With all the coolers on the market today, how do you choose the right one to buy? That obviously would depend on a couple of factors, with the major ones being your needs and your budget. In case you haven’t noticed, you can spend a fortune on a 50-to-70-quart cooler with hopes that it will do as promised, keep your “stuff” cool. But does price really equate to keeping ice cold?

That answer is not as easy as one might expect, but generally speaking the better quality the cooler, the higher the price, and the better it will last and better performance. But, that doesn’t mean you need to drop a small fortune on a cooler if you only want to keep your weekend beverage cold.

I’ve purchased a dozen or so coolers in my entire lifetime and still have several of them sitting in my garage today ready for action should I need to cool something. Combined, I’ve probably spent $150 on all of them and somehow I’ve managed to survive. I have yet to enter into the “premium cooler” market by purchasing a Yeti, Brute, Engel, Grizzly or other top-line premium cooler. The price seems to keep me from taking the plunge.

The Yeti cooler is a quality cooler that demands a high price tag and is probably the most popular premium cooler, because it’s the most heavily promoted cooler that is touted as “wildly stronger, keeps ice longer.” Looking at a Yeti, there’s no doubt that it’s much stronger than the cooler you buy at a discount store. But, will it really keep your ice longer?

I reviewed an online demonstration that tested the ice-keeping ability of several premium coolers verses some not-so-premium coolers. The premium coolers did outperform the cheaper coolers, but the results were nowhere near what you would have expected — especially considering the premium coolers cost, which was seven to eight times higher. When you drop $350 to $400 for a cooler, the expectations are pretty high and results may disappoint.

There are a couple of key points to consider when using any cooler, premium or sub-premium. A major one is avoiding putting warm items into the cooler if it can be avoided. If you can chill the items you’re storing in your cooler, it will go a long way in preserving the integrity of your ice. Another factor is where you store your cooler. Storing it in the shade is much better than storing it in direct sunlight.

One factor you should consider is the color of the cooler. Darker colors absorb heat, while lighter colors like tan or white reflect heat. The lighter the color, the better it should keep ice.

Another big factor for how long your ice will last is the type of ice you use. The very best type of ice is block ice. A 20-pound block of ice will outlast a bag of crushed ice by 10 times. If you plan on going camping for long periods of time, you might want to consider finding some block ice. I like to make my own in smaller containers and keep them in my freezer until ready to use. Empty milk jugs work fine but the larger the block of ice, the longer it will keep.

A friend of mine had a good point as to why he didn’t invest in a premium cooler and opted for the lower end-type coolers — because he didn’t have to worry about someone stealing it from the back of his truck. I thought that was a good point, because there’s a much better chance a thief will find a $400 cooler more attractive than a $40 cooler. Sad that you have to consider that, but it is something to consider. Of course, you can always lock your cooler inside your truck or to the bed with a chain or cable.

Back to the performance results I reviewed. The premium coolers outperformed the lower level coolers (like the Coleman Extreme) by about 10-20 percent. So, as a consumer you have to figure out whether the additional $300 is worth 10-20 percent of performance. In this test, the Coleman Extreme outperformed its competitor, the Igloo Marine cooler. I think the performance test was legit, but in fairness this site may have been promoting the coolers that they sell.

One thing is for sure, if you buy a premium cooler you’re likely to never have to replace and latches, hinges or handles for the life of the cooler. They say it only costs a little bit more to go first class, but in the cooler department, I’ll just be satisfied to ride coach.

David Mosesso is publisher of The Jonesboro Sun. Email comments to dmosesso@jonesborosun.com.

Depends on your lifestyle. Do you like to take camping trips? Do you like to hunt/fish? Do you love the outdoors?

If you said yes to any of these questions then you have probably been away from civilization from 4 days to a week at some point in your life.

That's when premium coolers come into play. They are made to be used,made to last days without refilling with ice, and that's when they're valued the most.

In the long run, you save on ice. You also save time otherwise used pacing through the aisles of a hardware store to find the right hinge that will probably break in the next few weeks again anyway. Then repeat.

Try catching a tarpon on the fly while standing on a cheap cooler, you may just break your ankles.

Try that science experiment yourself in a controlled environment, look at how premium coolers are made. My opinion...this is an opinion column right? Yeti re-invented the wheel as to what a cooler should be.